Herman Van Rompuy: Trump, May alliance is ‘quite sad’

Herman Van Rompuy, Donald Tusk’s predecessor as European Council president, told Belgian TV program Terzake it was “unworthy” of the U.K. to invite U.S. President Donald Trump for a state visit.

Van Rompuy said the U.K. was “desperately looking for allies” after the Brexit vote. “The U.S. might be the most apparent one [allies], but it’s unworthy to invite a controversial president immediately. The U.K. is looking for a replacement for the EU, but nothing can replace it,” he said.

The Trump — May friendship is “quite sad” in Van Rompuy’s view because Trump “is so offensive to the EU.”

No one benefits from Brexit

“No one, except for some people in the U.K., really believes that anyone will benefit from Brexit,” Van Rompuy said.

The EU should wait for the French and German elections to be done and dusted before it comes up with an initiative to promote European unity, the former Belgian prime minister said. “There are so many differences between the EU and the U.S. right now, we should start to ask ourselves what values we have in common,” he added.